TobuIshi

It's been a while since I've written in this journal, but I think I've found a topic that should appeal to fans of FMA's automail, Leviathan's dieselpunk, and the Last Airbender series' upcoming steampunk influences (aka, most of my watchers):

Robotics.

Not hypothetical, future-tense robotics, but actual creations being cooked up by an actual robotics firm, as we speak.  Specifically, Boston Dynamics, an offshoot of MIT, which has been developing walking robots for years now.  I first heard about BD when they released videos of their BigDog four-legged prototype walker, and I was pretty excited when they came out with some footage of a two-legged walker, PETMAN, as well.

BigDog: HERE
PETMAN Prototype: HERE

The BigDog especially amazed me with the way it stays upright on rough terrain.  Look at the way it staggers and flounders on its knees on that ice, then gets up again - for all the world like a living thing.  The PETMAN was pretty impressive, too...but, let's face it, it still looked like a minifridge on chicken legs, and even the BigDog made me wonder what would happen if it actually did fall over.  How would you get something that large and heavy upright again?

Well, in the last month, BD has come out with an updated version of each of these robots.  The newest PETMAN jogs, kneels, twists, and does pushups...and the AlphaDog demonstrates exactly what would happen if it actually fell over.  (It's a little eerie.  Still, personally, I can't wait until they fit it out with two passenger seats/harnesses, a steering apparatus, and a rollcage.  I want one!)

AlphaDog: HERE
PETMAN Newest Version: HERE

So, all you fans of robotics in fiction, what do you think of these real-life machines?  Do you feel excited, now that machines on legs could be wandering around your neighborhoods in the next ten years?  Worried?  Happy?  Scared?  Let me know in the comments!  

Over the last few days, I think everything that can be said, has been said.  My mother put it best, I think, when she pointed out to me that the response in Japan has been beautiful.  No looting, no reports of people hurting each other or capitalizing on this tragedy.  Just people pulling together, helping each other, braving their way through the catastrophe as best they can.

People I haven't heard from in years have been contacting me to make sure I'm all right.  For the record, I moved back to the United States last August and am safely in California, far from the disaster.  No-one I know has been hurt, given that most of my acquaintances are from the Tokyo or western Hokkaido areas; but really, that fact doesn't lighten anyone's load but my own.

Among all the stories of destruction and loss, I was touched and cheered up slightly by the news of "Operation Yashima", a movement spread over Twitter and other social networks by the otaku of Japan to get citizens to shut down their unnecessary electrical equipment between the hours of 6 and 8pm, in order to leave more power for damaged regions during that period of peak demand.  The name of the movement is taken from a famous battle in Neon Genesis Evangelion, in which the power grid of Japan was tapped to defeat a monstrous enemy.  Appropriate, and wonderful to see, especially from the supposedly shy and introverted online generation.

Obviously, shutting off our lamps isn't going to help the people of the Touhoku region, but if you do want to donate, I recommend doing it directly through the Google page set up for the purpose.  It sends funds straight to the Japanese Red Cross, where they can be used with maximum efficiency, without any international shunting back and forth.

Donate here: www.google.co.jp/intl/en/crisi…

If you have the time, please copy and paste the URL below into your own journals, without the spaces.  We can't boost the electrical grid of Japan, but let's at least boost the signal for international relief.

< b >Help Japan - Donate Directly To The Japanese Red Cross:< /b > http ://ww w.google.co.jp/intl/en/crisisresponse/japanquake2011 .html

It's official.

Mike and Bryan are working on a new series set in the Avatar universe.

Everyone's wondering who Korra is, and many are speculating that s/he is a Water Avatar.  Some want him/her to be the child or grandchild of their favorite pairing.  Some want him/her to be the reincarnation of a character whose final outcome they didn't appreciate in the first series.

Personally, I have one burning hope for this series, and only one.  And it's one that I haven't seen much online in the buzz of anticipation.

Please, O Spirits of the Avatar World, let this series be set in the past.

Yes, hundreds of years ago, before the world was broken by war.  I want to see the old world that Aang loved, in all its lively richness and splendor.  I want to see the Air Nomads in their prime, and meet a diverse scatter of Airbenders in the cast.  I want to see the Fire Nation in their glory, before Sozin's grasping ambition poisoned their culture.  And I would definitely not object to a cameo from Oma and Shu themselves.

The Gaang guided the world of Avatar into the future.  I would like nothing better than to find that the Korrew, whoever they will be, plan to take us on a trip into Once Upon A Time.

...well, actually, only two polls.  One silly, and one (slightly) more serious.

1)  I had a lot of trouble deciding on a title for Another Coraline.  PikeBot and I were hammering out the final beta touches and chatting over AIM, the night before the first chapter was supposed to go up, and I was wigging out about my fifty-four-page fanfic with no title.

We ended up going with the simplest route and just calling it Another Coraline, but as I got more and more frustrated and sleep-drunk before we came up with that option, the possible titles we were brainstorming got sillier and sillier.

The following seven titles were all actually suggested for the fic quite late in the night, though none of them were meant seriously.  Just for a laugh, I thought I'd post them.  Which one's your favorite?

2) This poll requires a lot less explanation.  I'm thinking of writing some short stories and oneshots in the Another Coraline timeline.  What sort of fic would you like to see?

If you have any more specific requests or ideas, please mention them in the comments!  I can't promise for sure that any of these will be written, but it's nice to have an idea of what catches the general interest, y'know?

Thanks again for reading, and for voting!
-Tobu

(It seems like a more appropriate verb than "wrapping"...)

Ladies and gentlemen, the final chapter and epilogue of Another Coraline have been posted.  This marks the end of a four-month process of writing and editing.  I feel relieved, and at the same time a little sad to see it all finish up.  I suppose I'll have to find something else to feverishly type away at, around 11:57pm on a work night.

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Dedication

For being a sounding board, a firm disciplinarian, a fellow author and a tireless cheerleader...this fic is for PikeBot, who midwifed me through the creative process from the story's very hour of conception until the last words were posted.

Special thanks also to my hardworking betas on ff.net: audi katia, StylishEvil, and the inestimable Caturday, who was as tough and as insightful as anyone could ever want.  Thanks to my endlessly patient boyfriend, for never raising a word of complaint while I tapped away in Laptop Land, and to all the friends who read the various drafts and gave their advice, particularly Megan and Cynthia.  To anyone I may have forgotten--thank you, and thanks again for putting up with my flakiness.

And of course, thank you to my readers.  You've brightened up my days with your responses and reactions to the story.  I hope it was as fun to read as it was to write, or more so.

Cheers, everyone.
Tobu

--

And finally, two "thank-you gifts" for y'all:

1) I've put together a sort of fanmixed soundtrack for the fic.  It's a little unconventional; there's one track for each chapter, and the songs are mostly music I listened to for atmosphere while writing, so their lyrical relevance to the plot varies.  Still, it's a pretty sweet little collection of music, and you can snag it here.

2) There is now photographic evidence of my trip to see Coraline in theaters.  It also shows what the theater lobby decorations look like for the movie out here.  I apologize deeply for what I think is the most unsettling face-censoring I have ever produced.  It seemed appropriate, somehow.